The self-driving Google cars speed just like you do

More human than human?

You're not alone if you drive under the logic of "nine you're fine, 10 you're mine"—that driving little above the speed limit, and you probably won't get pulled over. Google's self-driving cars are programmed to drive the same way, we learned today. The lead software engineer on Google's project told Reuters that the autonomous car is allowed to break the speed limit by up to 10 miles per hour.

This isn't necessarily because Google folk are speed demons. Rather, they programmed the cars this way largely because we human drivers are such flagrant scofflaws when it comes to the speed limit, routinely setting our cruise control 5 or 9 or more miles per hour above the posted maximum.

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As your driver's ed instructor may have told you through gritted teeth, it's actually safer to drive at a speed close to that of the cars around you, even if that means speeding a little, than it is to observe the speed limit with ironclad fidelity and drive much slower than everybody else. Since Google's cars share the road with human drivers, and human drivers speed, Google must grant its fleet a little leeway.

Of course, there's always that hardass highway patrolman who'll pull you over for doing 68 in a 65. But it remains to be seen just who will be subject to the fine when he pulls over a car that drives itself and the human occupants say, "don't look at me, officer, it's my car that's the lead-foot."